-에게 And -한테

The particles -에게 and -한테, along with -에, serve an important function in Korean grammar. They allow you to indicate which object or person is the indirect object of the sentence. Essential who is involved in the action that is being performed.

-에게, -한테 and -에 can all serve the same function in Korean. These three can mark the indirect object in a sentence, not to be confused with the direct object particle -을/를. The indirect object is what another part of the sentence (indirectly) affected by the action. As such, you will often need one of these particles with verbs like 주다 (to give), 팔다 (to sell), 묻다 (to ask), 보내다 (to send), etc.

An example:

가: 누구에게 이 선물울 줄 거예요?

나: 오늘은 민수 씨의 생일이라서 이 선물을 줄게요.

A: Who are you giving this present to?

B: Today is Minsu’s birthday so I will give this present.

How To Use

Using the particles -에게, -한테 and -에 is not that difficult at all. All three follow the ‘no rule’ Korean grammar rule. So to use it, you needn’t worry over vowels or consonants. You simply attach either -에게, -한테 or -에 to the word that is the indirect object and you are done. It is that simple.

There are, however, some rules regarding the three particles. First, you use -한테 and -에게 when the word to which you attach it to a word for a person or a living creature. For everything else, you use the particle -에. Secondly, 한테 is more used in spoken language, while you can use -에게 in all situations. Lastly, when an indirect object is a person you need to honour, you need to use the honorific form of this particle: -께.